We are coordinating a session for
the 2008 SBL on the social history of scribal practice, with a
focus on Qumran and the Dead Sea
Scrolls, whose goals are
both to highlight the manuscript evidence from Qumran,
and also to contextualize that evidence in light of the larger body of
evidence
for Jewish, Christian, and other scribal practices in
antiquity. The session is co-sponsored by the Qumran Section and the
Social History of Formative Judaism and Christianity Section. We
envision a program that will include a series of presentations and
significant time for questions and discussion.